Unconfessed Feelings
by Lil Miss Morningstar
Summary: Due to an improvised vacation at Flanoir, Zelos finds himself in a bit of a problem. He will have to share the bed with Lloyd, who he secretly has a crush on. He can only hope that he doesn't loose his remaining self control and ruin things. Zelos x Lloyd


**Author's notes:** Hello all! This is the first story I've published online, just so you know. Anyway, back to business. Seeing as there is quite a lack of Zelos x Lloyd romances, I've decided to come up with one of my own and share it. I basically cooked his baby up over the course of two weeks. For an intended one shot, it got pretty long. 20 pages by the time I got done in Word, lol.

So before we get into any kind of discussion, this will be a guy with guy romance, or yaoi. Whichever name you prefer. If this is not something that you like, enjoy or wish to see, you may turn back now. I will not think any less of those who do leave.

Now, for those that are still here, I hope you enjoy the story.

And thank you Lyn for being my betta for his story ^_^. Cheers!

_**Edit:**_ I fixed some typos and a few other things that managed to get passed me. If anyone else finds any more of them lil buggers, feel free to send me a message and I'll go typo hunting again.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything!

**Summary: ** As time passed, Zelos has a harder and harder time coming to terms with his new found attraction towards a certain red clad swordsman. So far, he's managed to pretend noting is going on. Even though he loves Lloyd and wishes to tell him so, he fears that his actions will scare the boy. But now, when the group makes a stop at Flanoir to weather out a storm, Zelos finds himself in quite a predicament: having to share the bed with Lloyd without losing his self control (ZelosxLloyd)

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><p><strong><em>Unconfessed Feelings<em>**

The group had stopped at Flanoir for a few days. The main reason had been to go back into Celcius' lair to gather up some materials from the beasts and creatures that lived there to make up better equipment.

The other reason had been to goof off and play in the snow. Not that some of the members of the team would openly admit it.

But then it had started to snow and the locals said that would only get worse during the night. It wasn't bad during the day, but they only had a couple of hours that they could be outside. And no one actually wanted to have to camp in the middle of a snowstorm.

Hence, the dual world regeneration group decided and officially announced that they would take the day off and relax, then let the storm pass, much to the dismay of a certain silver haired professor.

Most of the group had run off and got themselves lost in their own little world. The younger half of the group, Lloyd, Genis, Colette and Sheena spent the day playing in the snow. Needless to say, for all his agility, Lloyd got absolutely clobbered with snowballs, but then again 3 versus 1 isn't exactly fair. Raine had pretty much locked herself in inn and buried her nose into a couple of books on medicine she had bought in town. Presea and Regal had volunteered to chop and drag wood for the innkeeper. And for once, Zelos had gone into one of the quieter parts of town for some much needed alone time to think.

The usually cheerful and flirty red headed chosen had a lot on his mind lately. Working undercover for multiple 'agents' at the same time and trying to keep his womanizing façade up was getting tiring. That, and the whole severing the mana link between the worlds was also something to worry about. But all of those things together were not his main issue.

Better part of Zelos' current worries revolved around a certain red clad, brown haired swordsman.

"Ugh… what am I going to do?" Zelos whispered to himself.

The truth about his not so little dilemma was that he was getting very fond of the boy. Well technically a bit more than fond. More like infatuated.

'_And to think, the great Zelos Wilder, has fallen head over heels for a country _boy_ of all people' _Normally Zelos would not admit to that openly, but it had become more and more obvious. Painfully so even. Zelos could simply not put Lloyd out of his mind! The boy was downright lovable!

Initially the two had been at odds. Lloyd was pissed at him half the time for his womanizing ways, and Zelos in turn brushed off the brunette for being a self-righteous stick in the mud and no real fun. But over time, Zelos had really come to admire the boy's perseverance and determination, and to a lesser degree, he had even enjoyed teasing the lad every now and then due to his perpetual cluelessness. Yes it had been fun seeing Lloyd's face as red as his shirt and hearing his half built comebacks.

'_That time I teased him at Altamira about the bunny dressed girls and their 'optional' services was priceless. Oh, the face he had when one of the girls had put one arm around Lloyd's neck and began tracing random patterns on his chest… I've never seen him so embarrassed!' _Zelos had enjoyed his little prank quite a bit. And even pestered Lloyd about it for several days, until the twin swordsman turned around and Hunting Beast'ed his face. Zelos had wisely allowed the subject to drop, while nursing his swollen jaw.

Naturally Lloyd had also played some pranks of his own. Hiding his brush was a favorite. Hiding Zelos' pink colored clothing articles had also been a frequently pulled prank. But the time Lloyd had switched out Zelos' dinner plate for one of Raine's failed cooking experiments… well… Zelos had refused to eat anything he did not make for over a week.

Still all and all, there was never a dull moment if they had anything to say about it. Not to mention the other members of the rag-tag salvation group would usually also pitch in their two gald for good measure.

Now back to the subject at hand. Zelos was no stranger to wearing masks. Heck, anyone born into nobility had to learn to put a pretty face on to get what you wanted out of the rest of the mask wearing nobility. However, one mask in particular was becoming more and more difficult to keep on.

And said mask was the one that kept him from glomping Lloyd at the first possible opportunity.

When the others were around or there was a fair distance between himself and the twin swordsman, it was much easier to keep his show on. Camping out under the stars? No problem. Sharing a room? Doable… but had to make sure not to look at Lloyd as he was undressing or without a shirt on. (Martel forbid he started nose bleeding at such a provocative sight. Again. ) Sharing a bed? Oh, that's when all hell broke loose.

Earlier that same day, when they first arrived to town, their first order of business had been to secure their lodging. Normally they were not short on money, and this day had not been the case. Sadly, news of the incoming storm had caused the inns and hotels to fill up from other guests forced to extend their stay. In the end, they had been able to secure two rooms. One room had a large king size bed and a full size one. The other had two full size beds. Before anyone could voice their preferences, Raine had pretty much assigned everyone to a room and bed. Collette, Sheena and Presea would share the king sized bed while Raine and Genis would share the other bed in that room. Lloyd, Zelos and Regal were free to choose their own sleeping arrangements.

Usually this could be worked around without much of an issue. However, Regal was a pretty big man, and he would most likely take up most of the bed. If Zelos had been a 12 year old brat, well that probably wouldn't have been much of a problem. But two adults… then that would be some pretty close range mind you. And if you were lucky, you would not get squished or fall over when you tried to roll over in your sleep. Zelos had already had several rude awakenings in that fashion. After a while, both Zelos and Lloyd agreed that if they had to bunk with Regal, they would rather pull out their bedrolls and sleep on the floor.

On the other hand, Lloyd was known to toss and turn. A lot. Whoever had to share with him had a high probability of getting hit, kicked or smacked at least once per night. Sometimes it was not enough to wake you up, but once in a while it did. There was one way to ensure that you would not get hit, but that came with Lloyd's second little condition that Zelos had accidentally discovered.

Once asleep, Lloyd got cold very quickly. And that usually lead to him moving closer to the nearest possible heat source available. If they were outside, Noishe was usually happy enough to be Lloyd's pillow/blanket/oversized teddy bear. But indoors… well someone could potentially get hugged in the middle of the night. Zelos had discovered that one time they got stuck in Ozette due to rain, where what began as Lloyd shivering uncontrollably in his sleep, clad only in his undershirt and undershorts, ended up with Zelos being hugged with almost angelic like strength and not let go until well into the morning.

When that little misadventure had happened, Zelos already had a bit of a soft spot for the lad. But feeling two arms around his bare torso, someone's chest pressed flat against his back, and feeling Lloyd's breath on your neck and shoulder for better part of the night…. Well it was one heck of a test of will. For Zelos that had been about 6 hours of either torture or pleasure. He still wasn't sure which. It had been a sheer miracle he had managed to remain composed for so long, and not flip over and just kissed the day lights out of the boy.

But back to Zelos sitting on a reasonably cold bench at Flanoir. The red head was quite mortified about what could happen or not happen. Internally he squealed at the prospect of spending some quiet time with Lloyd, even if it was just to be near each other. But this being Flanoir, and it was sure to be a cold night and he was about 99.99% sure that Lloyd would sooner or later move to his side of the bed, and about 98% sure that Lloyd would end up snuggling up to him unconsciously. _As much as I would love to have the bumpkin hug me, I'm afraid of what I'll do to him. I don't trust myself to just return the hug anymore. Goddess... it's going to be one long night._

Sadly, the sun had to set at some point. And before long the light sprinkle of snow had become a steady and heavy downpour. Not quite up to the point where it started raining one pound snowballs, but it would get there sooner or later.

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><p>And so, slowly but surely, all 8 members of the rag tag team made their way back to the inn. The children headed straight to the baths, while the others waited for their turn. Dinner had been prepared by Regal and Genis, and quite the lovely mini feast it had been. They ate their fill and headed back to their respective rooms. Zelos had been the second to leave the table, the first had been Presea since she had not been able to fully wash up before the meal (Sheena hogged the bathroom for a full hour, but the little axe wielder simply said she didn't have enough time at that point).<p>

Along the hallway, his mind was in a frantic overdrive as to find a last minute solution to his upcoming dilemma. So far, the only feasible idea he had come up with earlier that day had been to simply sneak out of the bed as soon as Lloyd was asleep, and for him to stay on the floor, were hopefully short-tempered boy would hug the pillow or something. _At this point, this is just about only wishful thinking from my part. Argh, this would be so much easier if I could just kiss the boy freely… but who am I kidding. Lloyd's probably never heard of a guy loving another guy. He'd probably never even think it's possible._

That had been another issue. Zelos could not bring himself to come clean with his feelings because Lloyd would most likely not understand them. _Or worse still… he might push me away for good and hate me for it._

Part of the reason, if not most of it, for which the presumed red headed philander had fallen for Lloyd was because of his honesty and straightforwardness. Lloyd had a certain simplistic way of doing things that was just refreshing, compared to the stuffy nobility and their backstabbing ways. What Lloyd said, he meant it, plain and simple. No hiding meaning or alter motive. Yes, he was a bit of a firecracker, but that just added to his charm. His innocence was like the perfect icing on a cake. Lloyd's innocence was probably what had been putting off women so far, since in mind he was still a 'boy'. Lloyd wasn't half bad to look at, (once you got him out of those dam suspenders!) but most people wouldn't really spare much thought about the not-quite-yet-man. But for Zelos, that same innocence was both a turn on, and the one thing he could and would not destroy.

Because Lloyd had been perhaps the first person to really see Zelos for Zelos.

Not The Chosen. Not Mr. Wilder. Not another noble with plenty of money to throw away and a pretty face to go along with it. Just Zelos.

And that was one of the things he treasured the most. Because in Lloyd, he found his first real friend. And he would be dammed a thousand times over before he lost that. Cruxis and Renegades be dammed, if Lloyd was involved, he would fight tooth and nail to make sure the boy was safe and sound.

_And once again, I'm still nowhere near finding a decent excuse to not share the bed with Lloyd! Geez… I've sure been getting side tracked today. Martel… I'm starting to sound more like Lloyd. Or worse yet, Colette. _Zelos was unable to keep himself from growling due to his own frustration.

While his mind kept wandering in a thousand different directions at the same time, Zelos eventually made it to his room. Currently, it was devoid of any other people, for which the red head was thankful. So he set (or more like forced) himself to get ready to sleep. _Which I quite frankly doubt I'll get any off tonight._

Quietly going through his personal effects, Zelos pulled out his warm set of night clothes. Compared to his usual attire, it was quite bland, being composed of a plain white fleece button up shirt and dark red fleece pants with snow flake print. However, they were quite warm and comfortable. After pulling out a pair of clean socks, he undressed and pulled his pj's on, then folded his clothing and placed it back inside his wingpack. Luckily, no one else had come up yet.

Having nothing better to do, he pulled out a book before closing up his wingpack and walked over to one of the beds (the one Lloyd had elegantly claimed by jumping in and hugging the pillows earlier that day, earning smiles and chuckles from the two other men in the room). It was in somewhat of disarray after Lloyd's little show, but Zelos couldn't help but smile at the memory. Putting his book aside for the time being, he set himself to straighten the sheets.

Besides, anyone that has ever had to sleep anywhere that is cold would agree that, the one thing you absolutely do not want to happen is having to turn over and feeling a cold rush of air attack your feet. Hence the outmost importance of making sure the blankets and covers where properly tucked in around the foot of the bed. Even if Zelos himself did not get to actually sleep in that bed, Lloyd would surely appreciate it.

Once the bed was nice and neat, Zelos picked up his book and laid down on one side of the bed, using the pillows to prop himself up someone in order to read.

The book itself was some novel that had been going around Meltokio for some time already, an adventure of some sort with some romance on the side. Normally Zelos was not a big fan of novels, but it gave him something to kill time with, and perhaps stop his mind from shooting off in multiple directions again. Having your mind work in overdrive, even unproductively, was surprisingly tiring after a long period of time. Even his dreams of late offered no real reprieve. Not to mention frequently waking up to having problems below the waist. A few straight days of that was not a pleasant experience. Some of the group members had already caught onto what was going on with him (save Lloyd, thank you) but they had (thankfully) assumed he had been fantasizing about near naked women, and not a certain male brunette hottie.

But tonight, once again, the book was unable to keep his interest. Closing the book and placing it on the side table, Zelos allowed his body to relax as he starred at the ceiling. And as soon as he staid still for 10 seconds, his mind went back to Lloyd.

"Grr… dam it!" he said as he flipped over and placed a pillow over his head.

But his mind was far from done playing tricks on him. For soon his mind made him imagine the pillows weight being as if Lloyd had suddenly snuck into the bed and wrapped his arms around Zelos' neck. Naturally, Zelos almost jumped out of his skin, a rather unmanly squeak escaping his lips before he knew it, as he pulled down the pillow to check if he really did get hugged by his secret crush. To his relief, he was still alone in the room.

"Just my mind… playing tricks on me again." He spoke to himself as wave of fear finally washed over him.

At that point, he knew that staying in the bed was only going to keep tormenting him (as if the ghostly image of Lloyd sleeping buck naked with only a thin blanket draped over his hips was any help). He had to do something else. "Maybe just staring at the snow storm outside will numb my mind enough to allow me some rest."

Having nothing else to do, Zelos dragged himself out of the bed and over to the window still, grabbing and dragging a chair over to sit on. Pulling back the drapes, he got his first good glimpse of the storm outside. It was certainly blowing pretty hard out there; he could hardly make out the silhouettes of the houses and buildings.

For all his dislike about snow (it still brought back very unpleasant memories), he had to admit that it had a mind numbing effect. The wind would twist and turn the snow, making the flakes move about in a seamlessly random pattern, yet at the same time, it had a certain grace and elegance to it, like a well coordinated ballet. One direction, then the other. A turn here, a flare there, and then several spins in place. Yes, snow did have something magical about it.

Before he knew it, time had passed. At one point Regal came into the room and he had not noticed it until the older noble greeted him.

"Dazing off into the storm Zelos?" asked the ex-convict.

"What the— when did—oh never mind. Yea I got lost just watching the snow." Commented Zelos as he went back to watching the snowflakes dance in the wind.

The older man nodded. Perhaps silently understanding that Zelos needed, or wanted, to think about something. And yet, he walked over to the window. "How odd. I figured the storm would be much stronger by now. And yet, it is about as strong as in the afternoon when we all came back."

Regal's comment caused Zelos to wonder about that. It was true that the storm was not quite as strong as to call it a storm. Come to think of it, all that fanciful dancing was awfully slow and tamed for a respectable blizzard. "Maybe it's just gaining its strength before hitting us with all of it." Said the red head as he lazily stretched in his chair.

"Perhaps." Said the other. "Then it would be best if we keep extra blankets at hand. It may get well below freezing during the night."

After that comment, Regal went about looking for spare blankets. He found some in one of the drawers. Deeming them fit for use, he placed one on his bed and another, a heavier one, on the bed that Zelos and Lloyd would be sharing.

"I'm not sure one more blanket will make a whole lot of difference Regal. You know as well as I do that Lloyd doesn't do well in the cold." Said Zelos after eyeing the extra blanket.

"True. I shall ask the innkeeper to see if they have any more spares available. I'll be back in a bit."

As Regal left the room, Zelos once again pondered about the blue haired noble's offhanded comment. _If it really starts snowing cats and dogs, angelic transformation or not, I'll freeze over if I sleep on the floor. Dam it! _

From the looks of things, even Mother Nature wanted to torment the Tethe'allan chosen. _At this rate I _will _have to sleep in the same bed as Lloyd just to stay warm… oh gods._

This really had not been a good day for Zelos.

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><p>About 15 minutes later, Lloyd finally waltzed into the room. Regal had yet to return, meaning he was probably having trouble of some sort acquiring extra blankets.<p>

"Wow Zelos. You're still up?" blinked the boy after closing the door behind him. "And what are you doing staring at the window?"

"Oh, just killing time Bud. I'm not quite yet sleepy." Replied Zelos in his usual carefree tone only partially turning to see Lloyd walk in.

Naturally, Lloyd just rolled his eyes and went through his wingpack pulling out his own set of pajamas. "I'd get cold just watching that."

Zelos laughed softly from his seat. Lloyd indeed had a point, because after… what was it… 30 minutes maybe, of looking at the snow, his mind had gone numb. But Zelos was also smiling upon seeing Lloyd's choice of sleepwear. The twin swordsman had also picked fleece shirt and pants, but his were deep red with cartoon penguins. An odd choice, given Lloyd's age, but they did have a certain… dare he say it… _cuteness_ to them. That and the boy didn't look half bad in them. He even looked a bit younger.

"Well if you wanna freeze your butt off, that's fine with me. Me, I'd rather stay warm and cozy under the blankets." Said Lloyd after coming out of the bathroom already changed.

After putting away his clothing, leaving his red jacket out hanging from the clothes hanger to dry, Lloyd made a bee line for the covers. He stopped pre-jump (he sure liked literally jumping into the bed before getting under the covers) when Zelos called out to him.

"Ooooii. I just straightened that out. No jumping."

"Oh c'mon!" Lloyd audibly whined. "As if you haven't done that before."

"Yes, I have jumped into bed before going to sleep. But I don't want to wake up in the middle of the night because I tried to turn over and found my lovely feet uncovered, thanks to your playfulness." Zelos sing-songed from his spot. Lloyd grumbled and pouted, but ended up giving in. If only because he too did not want to wake up with frostbite on his toes.

From the side, Zelos snickered at Lloyd's volatile expressions, then went back to snow watching.

To his surprise, the storm softened, becoming once again a soft breeze. The visibility cleared somewhat, allowing Zelos a nice view of the city, where the lamp posts and the snow gave the sleepy city an almost magical look to it. But the real icing on the cake was up in the sky. _Well I'll be dammed. Who would have thought I'd be seeing the northern lights tonight. _

It was quite a sight, one that he had never personally seen before, only heard off and read in books. Up amidst the clouds, various streams of different colors, mostly green in hue, but once in a while a sliver of blue, pink and purple would make a short appearance. Each stream would sway back and forth, like silk strings in the wind, sometimes merging and other times they stayed apart. It was captivating.

So engrossed was Zelos in the night's sky, that he almost didn't notice Regal coming back. Actually he hadn't noticed, he only snapped out of this stupor when the older man spoke up.

"I'm back. I did manage to get us more blankets. They just needed some dusting. I also got the girls some blankets too. They were quite glad I did." He said as he walked over to the beds. Handing Lloyd a fairly thick blanket, and then walking over to his own bed and placing the blanket he had just acquired, along with the one he had found earlier, over the blankets already on. Not too far away, Lloyd just about squealed at the sight of the new blanket and quickly jumped to placing it too.

"I guess we won't freeze over tonight." Joked Zelos.

The room's two other inhabitants silently agreed.

Before long, Regal had said his good nights and went to sleep. How the man managed to change clothing while his hands were handcuffed was a complete mystery. (Zelos and Lloyd both thought that he probably broke out of them at will put placed them back on once he had finished doing whatever he had to do.) In the mean time, Lloyd had made himself comfortable under the mountain of blankets. But he simply would not fall asleep.

Grumbling, he sat up, and glared at the red head that was still up.

"Zelos, when are you going to go to sleep? It's late."

"Don't mind me. You go ahead and crash out. I won't be long." He replied without really turning to face the boy.

Internally, he was still hoping that Lloyd would fall asleep first, so that he could somehow brave sleeping on the floor. But apparently, Lloyd would have none of that. Zelos' guess was that the boy wanted him to help warm the bed.

Sadly, Lloyd was not buying the red head's excuse that night. "Yeah right." He scoffed. "What's so interesting about seeing nothing but pitch black?"

"Well, come over here and see for yourself." Offered the Chosen with one of his dreamy smiles.

Back on the bed, Lloyd fidgeted and grumbled somewhat. He wanted to go see what was so interesting, but he clearly did not want to get away from the warm blankets. He'd already been in there for over 20 minutes and it was barely warm. It was one of the bad things about being so scrawny. And from the looks of it, he would have to physically drag Zelos away from the window. So after more grumbling, he got out of bed.

"So, what's so special?" the boy asked once he was standing a few feet away from the window. "All I see is the city covered in snow."

"Look up."

Lloyd did so, but rolled his eyes. "So... it's snowing… and?"

"You must not be looking up high enough."

"… The ceiling?"

At that point, Zelos wanted to smack himself. Leave it to Lloyd to miss things at first glance. _Must be because he's standing that he doesn't see the lights, and since I'm sitting down, I have a different perspective. I'll have to fix that._ "Here. Sit." Said Zelos as he grabbed, Lloyd by one of his sleeves and pulled him closer. Having caught Lloyd by surprise, the boy half tripped and ended up sitting on the red head's lap. _Not quite what I had in mind, but this will work._ "_Now_ look up."

Distrustful of whatever the pervert of a Chosen had in mind, Lloyd initially glared at Zelos. But when he saw no movement coming from Zelos, he finally turned around and looked outside. "Oh my…"

"Told ya."

"Wow…"

They stayed like that for some time. No words were exchanged; both just quietly contemplated the multicolored spectacle. At some point, Zelos wrapped both his arms around Lloyd's waist, and before long, Lloyd actually leaned towards the Chosen. It was moments like that, little odds and ends, that made Zelos fall in love with the twin swordsman all over again. Those little moments, where they could enjoy each other's presence, with or without remarks and witty comebacks, that made Zelos feel like he could really be himself. No pretending, no lying, no keeping up appearances, no nothing. And being able to cuddle with Lloyd without him flinching or moving away was a very sweet added bonus. One that filled his stomach with butterflies when he thought about it.

But alas, all good things must come to an end. Just when the magical lights in the sky were one again fading into darkness, the snow picked up, promptly turning once again into a full sized blizzard. Around the same time, Lloyd had started to doze off, quite happily (or unknowingly) in Zelos' arms. It wouldn't be much longer before Lloyd completely fell asleep.

"All right Lloyd." Said Zelos as he got up with Lloyd still in his arms. Bridal Style. "The snow's coming back, and you're about to fall over asleep. Beddy by time for you."

"But I'm… yaaaahhhh ummmm… still wide awake…" the twin swordsman was unable to hide a yawn midsentence. This earning a chuckle from the other.

"You're as wide awake as there is rainbows and sunshine outside Lloyd."

If Lloyd really been awake, he would have caused hell and much more if anyone tried to carry him. Even more so if said person in question so much as hinted at carrying him bridal style. But seeing as he wasn't all that awake, he didn't so much as lift a finger in protest. In fact he actually leaned into Zelos' hold, head resting gently on the other's shoulder.

As Zelos carried the other back into the bed, before he actually did get frostbite, or a cold, whichever came first, he couldn't not help but think how utterly precious Lloyd was to him. Even if the boy was clueless to half of what went around him (such as his current little situation), he sure did have a lot of spirit. _Ah Lloyd. Why must you be some lovable? And yet… I can't show you how I really feel. At least not yet._

With a slight clenching in his chest, he carefully placed Lloyd back in the bed. The boy quickly got under the covers and snuggled right in, after a few grumbles along the lines of 'gaah cold!'. Zelos wordlessly grabbed the blankets and pulled them up to Lloyds chin, tucking him in the process. Once that was done, Lloyd rolled over a few times, in an apparent search for a comfortable position. Not quite happy with his results, he opened up his sleepy eyes and looked at the empty spot next to him, and then to the person that should have been there, but was still standing.

"Aren't you going to get in here too?" he asked with misty eyes.

_So much for getting out of this. Dam those puppy eyes. Now I know I'm gonna regret this in the morning. _Though Zelos as he succumbed to the younger man's wishes. It was bad enough that Lloyd could still pull off the puppy eyes look, but when he was drowsy, such as right now, it was like a critical hit. Not to mention, if the tone of his question had been just a wee bit different, those misty eyes could have come off as lust filled and full of desire. If that had really happened, well, suffice to say that Zelos' remaining composure would have been shattered to bits and jumped right in. If he was _really lucky_ he might have been able to keep his pants on.

Or was that unlucky?

It depended on the point of view. It had to.

But mercy was on his side tonight. Lloyd was not in a romantic mood, he was just sleepy and subconsciously wanted a life sized teddy bear to hug and keep him warm. Silently Zelos praised whatever real divine powers existed out there as he tried his best to get his bearings in order. "Yeah, one sec. Let me turn off the lights." Yes it was a poor excuse, but it bought him a spare minute. It would have been annoying to try falling asleep with the lights on anyway, so might as well get that out of the way.

Once that was done, he took a deep breath and went back to Lloyd's side. "All right, scoot over."

Lloyd happily obliged, moving out of the middle of the bed and giving Zelos more room. Not that it would last long; he'd be back in the middle, or more accurately, right next to Zelos before the hour's end. Once Lloyd had moved far enough, Zelos climbed in and tried to make himself comfortable. _Geez, this thing was cold! No wonder Lloyd couldn't sit still. _

"Good night Zelos. See you in the morning."

"Good night Lloyd." _Don't worry; I'll be seeing you all night. Oh boy… _

Both closed their eyes and tried to fall asleep. One did fall, and quite quickly, judging from Lloyd's child-like soft snores. But Zelos on the other hand, could only lay there looking at the ceiling in pitch darkness; for once again, his gut and heart were in complete turmoil.

He sighed several times, and turned around a few times, never facing Lloyd directly. Before long he was once again facing the ceiling. Zelos' toyed a bit with the idea of escaping out of bed a few times, but it was getting quite cold, and he could even feel the cold's sharpness and biting at any exposed skin of his. So he basically had to keep his arms and hands under the blankets now. A little part of him couldn't help but feel like a cornered animal.

After a while, Zelos' must have started to doze off, the day's exhaustion probably had finally caught up. And he knew he had gone in and out of the realm of sleep because he had not noticed when something wrapped itself along one of his arms and clung to it with a death grip, until it was too late. That could only mean one thing.

And no, Gnome did not pop out of nowhere and gave him a bear hug.

Lloyd had started moving in his sleep. Over to Zelos' side.

And Zelos' chance to escape dropped to 0%.

When Zelos finally realized his new predicament, his whole body froze in place. Lloyd on the other hand was completely oblivious, but somehow must have felt Zelos becoming tense, because he rubbed his head on the other's shoulder a few times while at the same time he gently ran one hand all along Zelos' arms. For what reason, Zelos could only guess and/or fantasize. But a couple of things were certain: his heart was going at a hundred miles a minute and he didn't need a mirror to know he was blushing. His face was probably around the same color as his cherry red hair. If that was not bad enough, part of his mind was desperately wishing for Lloyd to do the same but instead of stroking his arm, his mind pleaded for the boy to stoke his bare chest and abdomen.

_Wait, bare chest? Where'd my shirt go! Oh it's still on. Phew... _

But his mind was not done yet. Zelos was being constantly bombarded with a myriad of images, mostly made up of past dreams and fantasies, and a few new ones being brewed right on the spot. Almost all of them involved Lloyd or himself in various degrees of undress. _When did it get so warm in here? Oh wait, that's not….. Oh hell… _

He shook his head trying to shake off the images, but they kept coming back. So Zelos tried a new tactic: trying to remember any kind of memory of a non-perverted Lloyd. Anything where Lloyd was being his usual idealistic or clueless self. He was able to recall some images, but before long they had morphed or turned into other images that were not helping at all. _Oh that time at the hot springs… NOOO! Zelos, kept calm! Down boy! Down! Ok… focus on something else… umm… on your breathing. Should be simple enough. _

And that's when he felt an arm wrap around his waist and Lloyd pressing his body to his side.

Zelos prayed that the back of his hand was feeling either of Lloyd's legs, or _not_ between his legs.

Unable to suppress a few more squeaks of panic, Zelos did the only thing he could possibly think of coherently. And no, that didn't mean that Zelos flipped over, pinned the boy under him and ravaged him like he clearly desired. Nop, fantasies aside, all he did was freeze in place. Or more accurately, tried to, because he was shaking more than the trees and branches outside being tossed to and fro with the roaring winds.

And Lloyd was still completely oblivious as to what he was causing. As far as he probably knew, he probably thought he was cuddling up to Noishe. Or a pillow. One or the other.

Zelos gulped as he desperately tried to regain hold of the last treads that held his integrity together. _Remember. He's asleep. He doesn't mean to turn you on. He's….he's… just cold… yea… A-and I'm the closest s-source of heat… S-so naturally he glomped—NOOOO! I mean hug…. Yea…. H-he's just hugging you… WILL YOU STOP SQUIRMING LLOYD! You're not helping! Oh gods…._

From the looks of it, Zelos' was not a very comfortable pillow. Might have been due to the trembling. Anyway, Lloyd moved around some, trying to find a more comfortable position while still holding his designated 'hot water bottle' in his arms. It took him a while to become happy enough stop moving. His new position however was even worse on the hormonal red head he was snuggling up to. The arm that had been strapped over Zelos' waist had moved higher, the arm itself laying on Zelos' stomach, and the hand had a good hold of his pj's just a little to the left (Zelos' left) of his heart. Secondly, Lloyd was still using the other man's shoulder as the resting point for his head, but he had gotten his body in between Zelos' body and arm. Now said arm was draped over the sleeping boy's shoulders and circled his back, hand resting on Lloyd's waist. If that had been everything, it would not have been so bad, but the Iselian had also wrapped both of his legs around one of Zelos'.

Zelos had to bite his tongue and grabbed the sheets desperately with his only free hand, given that Lloyd had even managed to entwine their fingers on his captive hand, to only manage to half muffle a moan. At least Lloyd had finally stopped moving. _Get a hold of yourself Zelos. NOT IN THAT SENSE! And I just washed my clothes this morning…. ARGGHHH! Down boy! DOWN! _

To say that Zelos was on the verge of tears was a vast understatement. Though he wasn't sure if those blocked tears were from the pain or that he felt so completely helpless. _A-at least… Lloyd has stopped moving._

Indeed it was helping. Lack of further stimulation and taking deep breaths was allowing Zelos too slowly, but surely calm down. _If… if he stays put, I might be able to survive this._

Now, remember that little detail about Lloyd being unable to stay still for long periods of time? Even in his sleep? Well, that was already coming back to bite Zelos in the ass.

Why?

Because Lloyd had started drawing circles and random patterns over Zelos' heart.

And how bad was that?

Bad enough for Zelos to start having problems below the waist.

This time around, a cross between a whimper and a moan escaped Zelos' lips before he knew it. Once he realized, he clamped his mouth shut out of sheer fear. After all, they were not alone. They had an ex-convict AND member of nobility not 6 feet away. _Please… Don't let him hear me…. Actually, don't let either of them hear me like this! _

Surprisingly, the shot of fear also doubled as a bucket of ice water. It didn't fully alleviate the problem, heck, the source of the problem was still cuddling him, but it did make a decent difference. Now if Zelos could just focus long enough on how to keep Lloyd from doodling all over his chest, and get that hand away from the row of buttons of his shirt, then he would be making some real progress. The question was how to achieve that without a) waking up Lloyd, or b) 'reawakening' himself. The last thing he wanted was for the younger swordsman to wake up and see (or feel) Zelos roused up.

Now given his current situation and position, Zelos did not have a whole lot of options available. _If I can somehow get Lloyd to let go of my leg…_

Getting his arm back wasn't so much of a hassle, Lloyd let go fairly quickly and easily, but otherwise made no movements. Other than the tingling feeling going over his arm, due to having gone numb from Lloyd using it as a pillow, he was in good shape. Above the waist anyway.

_Ok one down, one to go. This one is going to be the tricky one. And this one ain't gonna be easy with Lloydie here using my chest as a pillow. Let's see. Options. Hmm… I could try to push him away. No, that's not going to work, he'll just roll over and glomp me all over again. Maybe I'm not thinking this right. What's the root of the problem here? Ok it's Lloyd no matter how I look at it, but more specifically, it's his low tolerance to cold. So… If I can keep him warm he should stop being to clingy. _

Easier said than done, especially given that the boy was not able to keep warm on his own, no matter how many blankets or furs you threw on him. In short, Lloyd needed some other kind of heat source. And unless he wanted to grab the boy and throw him over on Regal's bed, Zelos himself would have to be that heat source.

Besides, just the idea of Lloyd cuddling someone else, man or woman, intentionally or not, it just made Zelos' blood boil and made him want to plan bloody murder. Lloyd was HIS. HIS dammit, and if anyone wanted to say otherwise would have a Judgment spell incoming. He just needed more time to figure out how to actually make the boy his, without scaring him for life or hating him for life…

_Guess I'm stuck playing pillow… Now how the hell am I going to do that without completely loosing it?_

Once again stuck with no real options, Zelos allowed himself to lay back. He sighed once in what looked like sure defeat. Keeping Lloyd warm meant close contact, but that also meant that his body wanted other things, more than just simple cuddling. As much as his body and mind were suffering from conflicting emotions, part of Zelos was actually had to have the boy so close. When awake, he was limited to brotherly bonding. So hugs were limited to a few scantly seconds and minimum physical distance otherwise was about at least 4 feet. Sure they could sit next to each other at the table, but all and all, it was pretty limited interaction.

But asleep or half asleep, Lloyd just loved to cuddle and get attention. By this point in the journey, all of the other team members had discovered first hand just how affectionate Lloyd could get when drowsy. Sheena had even thrown just about every Seal in her inventory at him one time she had woken up to find herself getting hugged by the clueless swordsman, who had somehow even managed to use the shinobi's chest as a pillow (one feat that Zelos would have killed to be able to do a year or two ago). Poor Lloyd sported one nasty black eye for several days and couldn't figure out why he got beat up in the first place. A few days later, Sheena apologized, since Lloyd did the same to all of them. He just couldn't help it. It took a while to get used to it, but it wasn't necessarily bad. Lloyd wasn't a half bad teddy bear for that matter. One day, Raine even theorized that Lloyd's sleeping behavior was probably somehow tied in to having lost his original parents, even if he got adopted by Dirk. She said that maybe the lack of a motherly figure around somehow made him secretly want attention. Attention that he never got from the village.

Putting all that aside, Zelos had come to look forward to any and all moments of affection. From those accidental hand touches when walking, standing back to back in the middle of a heated battle, the off-key banter during meal times, the occasional noogie, rough housing, pillow fights, and water fights, you name it. Zelos enjoyed being able to spend time with Lloyd. But what he truly desired was being closer to the boy, such as not too long ago that the red head had managed to get Lloyd to sit on his lap and watch the sky. To touch him, to feel him, to have his arms around the brunette, to cuddle him, and to be cuddled by him. _Mhh… I guess I'm just as attention starved as Lloyd is. Who would have thought? _

It was no secret that Zelos loved being the center of attention, most of the attention he got out of it was half meant or had some strings attached. Let's face it. All those sluts (a.k.a. hunnies), they just wanted to get inside the filthy rich noble's pants so that they could sink their claws into his fortune. The rest only paid enough attention to please the narcissistic Chosen, so that he would, in turn, be offered like a lamb to the slaughter should Tethe'alla need to undergo the journey of Regeneration. In short, they only offered something because they wanted something in return. And they called Zelos vain… bastards the lot of them.

Zelos sighed once again, and ran a hand through some of his sweat drenched hair. For once, he ignored the slick feeling of his hair. Not like he could do anything about it at the time. So instead, he turned to face the sleeping brunette that was snuggling him. Between the darkness and his point of view, he couldn't see much of the spiky haired boy's face. None the less, he could make out the outside of his face. He smiled after seeing how care free the lad was in his sleep. _Well Lloyd, I guess we both just want someone to hug us. _

Before he realized it, one of his hands had started to finger comb Lloyd's hair. He absolutely loved the feel of those silky smooth locks as he ran his fingers all along the boy's hair. They were soft and smooth, not overly thick but quite malleable, even if they would spring back into their usual disarray within a few seconds. To Zelos, it was like weaving your hands through silk and lace strands. Complete bliss. Just the motion of finger combing the boy was surprisingly relaxing. And if the fact that Lloyd had leaned into his touch a few times was any indication, he was enjoying this too. _If only you'd let me do this more often Lloyd…_

However, it wasn't long before his hands started to roam elsewhere. He shifted his body just enough so that he was facing Lloyd completely. First, one of his hands started to trace Lloyd's ear, making Zelos yearn to lick and nibble said ear at least once. Then the hand went lower, along the boy's jaw line and neck, earning a couple of squeaks and odd noises at which Zelos grinned at. _Well, well. There might be hope for you yet Lloyd. I do so hope you are enjoying this as much as me. _

Next up, the red head's hands roamed lower. One hand followed the dips and curves of Lloyd's shoulder, then went down along the length of his arm. The other, traced the bumps along the sleeping boys spine. Even though he was touching fabric, Zelos liked what he was feeling. _Mmm-hmm… a few more years and slightly bigger portions around meal time, and you will be absolutely delicious Lloyd._

But most surprisingly of all, was the fact that Lloyd had actually moaned. Yes. Moaned. At Zelos' touch. AND even pressed his body into Zelos', while arching his back and throwing his head back, exposing his face and neck to Zelos' advances. Never before had he gotten such a lively response from the spunky swordsman. And it was downright exhilarating.

"Are you enjoying this Lloyd? Do… you want me to continue?" asked Zelos softly yet huskily into one of Lloyd's ears just before giving him a quick lick.

"Nnhhh…." Was the response he got.

"I'll be taking that as a yes."

With unofficial permission granted, Zelos quickly attacked Lloyd's exposed ear, tracing each and every one of the inner curves and rings with his tongue, while at the same time, he pushed Lloyd unto his back and he quickly climbed on top of him, using his heavier body to keep the younger one pinned down. Once Zelos had Lloyd properly pinned down, he started to kiss and nibble his way downwards from the ear he had been lovingly showering with affection. He stopped at the neck, mostly because Lloyd started to squirm and make all sorts of delectable little noises, even turning his head to the side granting the red head even better access, who wasted no time at all renew his work. At the same time, Zelos allowed one of his hands to wander around all over Lloyd's neck and chest, which in turn only made the boy squirm even more.

Dream o reality, Zelos wasn't sure which was which anymore, or in which one he was in. But quite frankly at that point in time, he didn't give a dam about it. All he cared about was the young man under him, and his soft warm skin. _I've wanted—No, I've needed you Lloyd, for so long. And I need you, Lloyd, I truly do. Please. Please don't leave me. _Once he had properly tended to one side of Lloyd's neck, he raised himself just enough so that with one hand he could make the swordsman face in the opposite direction. After all, he'd be dammed if he neglected half of the boy. No use doing things half assed. Nope, if Zelos was going to do something, he made sure to get the job done. And Lloyd here had a full service scheduled and long overdue. Free of charge of course.

Miraculously, Lloyd was still asleep, even with Zelos having his way with him. Well maybe mostly asleep, because he had become quite a bit more active, mostly groaning, moaning and some squirming, all of which only further aroused Zelos. However, when the red head found a certain sweet spot about midway down his neck on his left side, oh he really responded to that, by arching his back and flinging his arms around the man's back and pulling him closer, practically begging Zelos to keep at it. Zelos didn't need to be told twice. And he made sure to memorize where that spot was located, by measuring his way down from his jaw line in love nibbles. Even Zelos didn't dare mark, scar nor damage Lloyd's sun kissed tan skin with love bites.

After a few more minutes of 'work', Zelos allowed the boy's neck to rest, if only to allow himself to catch his breath. He wasn't sure why, but the boy was completely intoxicating to him. 6 full glasses of wine could not match the effect of placing his lips on Lloyd's skin for a mere 10 seconds. Needless to say, it only took about one minute of being close to Lloyd to put Zelos in a completely drunken state. Well, it might have been more a kin to lust crazed, but hey, they were not too far apart anyway. And to top it all off, just the smell of Lloyd's skin was further driving his mind into the brink of lust filled insanity. To Zelos, Lloyd seemed to seem like the wilderness; the first images that came to mind were those of old oak and pine trees, but dazzled with some incense, and a touch of cinnamon and gingerbread. That might have been the root of Zelos' new found gingerbread cookie addiction, but that was a different subject all together. In short, Lloyd gave off a certain 'earthen' smell, strong and comforting, but never overwhelming (unless in close proximity such as now). In the red head's mind, it suited the boy just fine, matched him quite well actually.

Once he caught his breath, Zelos mentally debated on how to pleasure Lloyd next. While his own body ached and pleased to be relieved of his pants, he was not going to rush things. Besides, this was Lloyd, and that alone demanded that he must pay attention to his whole body first, not just jump the gun and run towards home base. So he would go slow and take his time, or as long as he could withstand before ripping his pants off. Which gave him 2 options: slowly begin to undress both of them, or finally land a kiss on those velvety soft lips that had been begging and teasing him for so long. To feel the boy's breath on his skin, and to both feel and hear him moan into his lips. Yes… a kiss was long overdue. He grinned almost evilly in anticipation.

Zelos propped himself until he was face to face with the still sleeping boy. He could not see much of his facial features, due to the darkness and overall lack of moonlight, but Zelos had long ago engraved the boy's face into his mind and committed it to memory. So it was of little difficulty to envision Lloyd's face bathed in –imaginary- candlelight.

With one hand, he traced the contour of Lloyd's jaw line from ear to ear. From there, he allowed said hand to go upwards, gently caressing the outer shell of his ear, and then kept going along his hairline up until his forehead. Then he allowed his fingers to pass over one eyebrow, then the other. After that, he traced his nose and finally stopped at the gently parted lips, feeling the sleeping boy's breath on those fingers.

_Oh Lloyd. My love. My desire. How easily do you turn me on. Even without doing anything, you throw me overboard. I cannot help myself when I'm around you. One minute you are charming your way unknowingly into my heart, and the next we are locked in playful banter. Even when we bicker and call names, you, and only you, can bring an honest smile to my face. Now, allow me, let me finally show you what you mean to me._

Zelos had deemed that he had tarried long enough. Lloyd's lips were beckoning him closer. Placing that stray hand on Lloyd's chin, raising his face ever so slightly so that they were completely face to face, he leaned closer. First he placed a feather soft kiss on Lloyd's forehead. _Because you will always be on my mind. _Next he leaned down, kissing both eyelids. _Because I want you to be the first thing I see every day, and the last thing I lay my eyes on before I go to bed. _He kept going down, now kissing the tip of the boy's cute little button nose. _Because I want to keep you close. _And last but not least, he hovered just over his lips, gently tracing the bottom lip with his thumb. _Now Lloyd. Will you be mine? Will you accept my love? _He closed his eyes and leaned in.

When their lips finally touched, it was like magic exploded within Zelos. Not destructive magic, but the sort of magic that made life wonderful. Like witnessing a beautiful sunrise or sunset, or the sky lights they had shared earlier today. It was the magic that made simple little moments into cherished memories that would never leave you for life. Lloyd's lips were indeed as soft as he had envisioned time and time again, even if a bit rough and slightly chapped from a full day of running around in the snow. Zelos didn't mind. It just added character.

He was about to deepen the kiss, and wrap his arms around the boy's body when he was unceremoniously shoved away.

By one hell of a punch to the face.

Zelos yelped at the attack, forcing himself to abruptly cut of his kiss. But the punch was so strong it completely threw him off of Lloyd and out of the bed, exposing his overheated body to the icy cold air of the room and crash landing into the hard floor. The crash almost immediately broke him out of us lust filed dreams, and the blistering cold was like a bucket of ice water thrown over him. He was very wide awake now and completely sober.

Once on the floor, he held his injured face in one hand while he tried to make heads or tails of what had happened. Whatever hit him, it hit him like a changing bull at full speed. He winced initially at the touch, but at least it didn't quite feel like he had broken something. "Owwww… What hit me?"

"Zelos?" said a voice coming from Zelos' back. The red head in question turned around, still nursing his injury to see Regal had awaken and was alert to any possible danger. The former convict had also reached out to turn on the small bed side lamp to shed some light on the near pitch dark room. Since the room was only occupied by its 3 intended inhabitants, Regal enquired as to what had happened, quite concerned for the wellbeing of his team mates. "What happened Zelos? And why are you on the floor?" he asked as he sat up and placed the bed coverings aside.

"As if I knew!" protested the Chosen. "Last think I remember was that I was happily dreaming, then the next moment I get punched in the face!" Even Zelos was smart enough to not mention anything about what exactly he had been up to. Even if he did decide to confess, it would have been to Lloyd himself, not Regal or anyone else of the team. "Owwieee" he mocked cried.

From the bed he had just been in a half minute ago, a rustling of the covers could be heard, followed by some grumbling. Soon Lloyd sat up and looked towards what had awoken him. "Huh? What happened? Zelos? Why are you down there?" he asked through heavy eyelids. From the looks of it, Lloyd was as clueless as always and had no idea what had happened.

"You punched me right out of the bed! That's what happened!" half yelled Zelos from his appointed spot on the floor, one hand pointing to the culprit at large.

"Wait. What?" asked again Lloyd, this time more awake and with a slight blush on his face.

"You heard me! You punched me in your sleep! Right in the face too, geez. We know you toss and turn a lot, but kicking a guy out of the bed while still in your sleep? That's a new low. Oh man… First aid." Repeated Zelos, now with his whining tone. Try as he might, he couldn't really pull off a full frontal rage assault on the boy, so he went for the next best thing: his accusing tone. The First Aid spell at the end was to sooth the pain that was still going strong. The red head could already feel his cheek starting to swell. He was definitely going to be sore the next day.

As for Lloyd, he stared at the Tethe'allan Chosen on the floor in disbelief. Even admitted that he moved a lot in his sleep, but to actually go as far as to throw punches was a first. Both of his hands went to nervously fidget with the brim of one of the blankets.

"D-did I really…. Punch you?" he asked embarrassed and with downcast eyes.

"Does this look like something I would do to myself in my sleep?" asked Zelos back removing the hand that was holding his injury.

Lloyd winced at the sight. Even he admitted that Zelos was not the type to physically hurt himself just to prove something. And judging from the way the blankets where thrown about, someone had to have thrown Zelos out of the bed, because he certainly didn't just get out on his own. And it would explain the large 'Clunk!' sound that had awoken him up. From the look of it, Lloyd was the only possible culprit here.

"S-sorry Zelos. I, I don't know what got into me." Admitted the brunet in defeat.

"Well something did." _And it wasn't me._ Commented the red head.

"You might wish to put a gel on that Zelos. It should help with the swelling and help you sleep." Intervened Regal before the other two youngsters got into a fight. He even got up to retrieve an apple gel from his backpack and offered it to Zelos. The flamboyant man took it wordlessly and applied part of it to the injury, the rest he put in his mouth, letting the gel work both on the outside and on the inside. Soon a familiar feeling or relief started to spread, indicating that the small gooey remedy was doing its work. Once the effect was done, Zelos swallowed the rest of the gel for good measure.

Once the pain had lessened considerably, Zelos got up and walked back to the bed. "All right Lloyd, move over. As much as I can tell you don't want me in the bed, I'm sorry to say that I'm not sleeping on the cold floor tonight, so you will have to share. And hopefully not evict me again."

"I'm sorry Zelos. I mean it." Pleaded Lloyd with those big doe eyes of his, practically melting whatever hate or annoyance Zelos had. That look always, _always_, made Zelos' mental walls break down and want to hug Lloyd and shout out to the world that he forgave him (and still loved him).

But Zelos resisted breaking down in front of the pouting boy in front of him. He bit his lower lip out of nervousness, unable to fully resist that look, so he forced himself to look elsewhere, a fair sized blush creeping onto his face and he rubbed the back of his head. "All right, fine. I give in." he sighed and let his arms drop. "I know you just want your teddy bear back." That got Lloyd to flush deep red and his pout turned into a half pout half glare, that someone just made him look twice as cute. "Well, if you want your teddy back, I suggest you try to not punch him his time. Or attack in any way whatsoever."

None the less, Lloyd did move aside, giving Zelos more room this time. He was still clearly embarrassed over the fact that he had punched at someone in his sleep, so he even held the blankets so that the red head could get in and then pulled the blankets over both of them once Zelos had gotten comfortable.

"Try to get along now you two. Good night" spoke up Regal before turning off the bed side lamp.

"Good night." Responded both boys.

It didn't take long for Regal to fall asleep, once he was sure that the two bickering swordsmen would not start a war. As for the two swordsmen in question, it took them quite a bit longer. Lloyd kept shifting in his spot, not being able to get comfortable. Zelos on the other hand, went through the recent events in his mind as he stared wide awake at the darkened ceiling. Zelos was ashamed of how easily he lost control and might have had his way with Lloyd if the younger man hadn't thrown him off the bed. It was bad enough that he had fully enjoyed it, and not even once did he wonder what Lloyd wanted. He just assumed that all that moaning and fidgeting meant that he was enjoying it. _Yeah, yeah. When you assume, you make an ass out of me and you. And I'm the ass of the day. _

The more he went over those memories, the more he hated himself. Soon he came to the conclusion that he really did deserve that punch in the face. He broke out of his mental rambling when something gently grabbed him by the arm and shook him.

"Umm… Z-Zelos?" asked Lloyd softly.

"You still awake?" asked back Zelos as he turned his face sideways to see the boy.

"Yeah…" admitted the boy half hidden in the covers. "I'm really sorry Zelos. I really didn't mean to punch you…"

Even though Zelos could not see Lloyd's face, he guessed that the boy was still embarrassed. Which was probably the reason he had not fallen asleep yet. "Lloyd, I already told ya I forgive you. You were probably just… dreaming or something." He responded in order to console the boy and make it up somewhat for his naughty actions earlier.

"But still… Ok It really might have had something to do with what I was dreaming. I can't remember much, but… I think I was fighting something. And… I guess I moved in my sleep." Squeaked the boy in explanation.

Now that actually sounded like something Lloyd would do. Always fighting for something. Sadly, this time around that monster or whatever he had been fighting in his dream got replaced by Zelos in real life.

Zelos wanted to make it up to Lloyd, but he didn't know how to do it without hurting either of their feelings. Lloyd was tearing himself out from the inside because he attacked one of his friends; Zelos felt all his remorse eat him from the inside out.

So the red head did the only thing he could do. He flipped on his side and pulled Lloyd towards him in a friendly hug. "Hey. No hard feelings, ok? I've probably done more than enough to deserve that punch, or will do at some point in the future. I won't hold it against you." _It's not the full truth, but it is a good part of it. _

Initially Lloyd grew stiff at the touch, but soon relaxed in the embrace. "Thank you Zelos." He said just before wrapping an arm around the Chosen and snuggling into his arms. As much as Lloyd wished to deny it, he really needed to be close to someone to stay warm. And if Zelos didn't mind, he wasn't going to complain.

"Good night Lloyd."

"G'night."

Soon, Zelos could hear the gentle snores coming from the boy in his arms. He smiled at the fact, and then readjusted his position in order to get some sleep himself without waking up stiff in the morning.

_Maybe one of these days Lloyd, I'll be brave like you. Brave enough to admit what I've done. And maybe brave enough to confess my feelings for you._ _One day. One day soon I hope._

After placing a quick kiss on the boy's forehead, Zelos allowed himself to fall asleep, with a smile on his lips. _Well, at least I got a kiss out of all this. I'm such a sneaky bastard, hehe._


End file.
